Mugabe Opens Arms To Destitute Former CIO Boss

Former Zanu-PF secretary for Administration Mr Didymus Mutasa is free to meet President Mugabe or rejoin Zanu-PF, but should do so openly without trying to put on a brave political face, Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba has said.

Mr Mutasa was expelled from Zanu-PF for coalescing with former Vice President Dr Joice Mujuru, who was also fired from the revolutionary party on account of plotting to unseat President Mugabe unconstitutionally.

Dr Mujuru went on to form Zimbabwe People First party, where Mr Mutasa was roped in as an elder without substantive and clearly defined roles.

They soon parted ways, with Dr Mujuru forming the National People’s Party. Mr Charamba told The Herald yesterday that Mr Mutasa approached the Office of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeking to make contact with President Mugabe.

He said Mr Mutasa might have made some political mistakes, but President Mugabe had no hard feelings against him and doors were open for him to meet the Head of State and Government.

“We have been following reports on Mutasa, particularly claims of his present condition which suggests hard times,” said Mr Charamba.

“Of particular note has been his wish to meet with the President. I want to indicate to Mutasa – he does not have to beat about the bush if it is the wish and desire to reconnect with the President. He must do so straight forwardly and without putting on a politically brave face.

“He knows the President’s character and personality and much more importantly he knows the President’s light heartedness and besides he is appreciated as a person who made a significant contribution to the struggle to the extent that whatever misjudgements might have overtaken him cannot take away from that contribution.

“We are also aware that Mutasa reached out to Vice President Mnangagwa to communicate his wish to meet with the President. The President has no hard feelings and if Mutasa wishes for that contact he needs to remember that the way remains clear for him to.”

Mr Charamba said most people in Zanu-PF were surprised by Mr Mutasa’s decision to join Dr Mujuru’s political project given his then high office in Zanu-PF.

“Everyone in Zanu-PF did not understand why a person who had risen so high in the party (and the office of secretary for administration is not a junior office) needed to topple himself from that zenith to become a mere follower on a political journey to nowhere,” said Mr Charamba.

“Good things were going on for him and one is not sure what bad spirit got him to spoil his chances, but in life those things do happen and if you are dealing with a mature party like Zanu-PF there is always that giveness to understanding and appreciating human fickleness.

“Even in olden days, there was what they termed the wheel of fortune. It was always turning, raising those at the level of the dust to the pinnacle and those at the pinnacle to the dust, but with greater patience and forbearance you can always move from the dust to the pinnacle.

“But care must be taken. I am a mere spokesperson of the President – I am not promising anything except the President’s bigger heartedness.”

Reports suggest that Mutasa is facing numerous challenges in his life. Recently, his properties that include a Range Rover vehicle were attached for failing to settle legal fees accrued when he was fighting his expulsion from Zanu-PF.

By his own admission, Mutasa is so broke that he is even failing to settle his electricity bills.- state media